In his play, Antigone, Sophocles does in fact show some right in Creon and some wrong in Antigone. This stems from the understanding of Creon as the protagonist in this tragedy, whereas Antigone is seen in a subordinate role. Thus being the case, Creon can be perceived as an honourable man, whose corruption can be traced to his hamartia, or tragic error. On the other hand, Antigone is clearly seen as a virtuous person, but her flaws in the play can only be traced back to her own personality. These arguments are supported by the language and dramatic devices used in this play.

Creon can be seen as the protagonist of this play on many different levels. In terms of the structure of the play, Creon speaks almost twice the lines of Antigone and is in almost every scene of the play, whereas Antigone in last seen at line 943 in a 1353 line play. Since Sophocles wrote this play for a viewing audience, Creon assumes a greater importance than Antigone. There is also the fact that the charact

Of God and heaven, you being only a man.

That order did not come from God. Justice

When I see any danger threatening my people,

Sophocles has made Creon the protagonist of the play and has drawn attention to the inherent good associated with the tragic hero, before the hamartia was committed, and during the anagnorisis. Antigone, although a sentimental character who honours the gods and family, is not portrayed without fault. She is seen to be stubborn and proud, constantly going to the extremes of emotion without adopting the path of moderation which is what Sophocles is advocating, and through all her arguments and taunts, is also seen to be a hypocrite. In this way, Sophocles is able to show some good in Creon and some bad in Antigone.

The tragic mistake is made when Creon declares that the body of Polynices be left unburied, and this results in the character of Creon being seen by many as a corrupt, arrogant and tyrannical leader. This is because the hamartia occurs early in the play, and therefore, Creon plays the 'evil leader' throughout the majority of the story, which is not an accurate reflection of his true nature.

In the Poetics, Aristotle outlines the characteristics of a protagonist, stating that he must be renowned and prosperous so that his fortunes can change from good to bad. This change should result from self-destructive attributes in the character as a result of their blindness, which allows for the anagnorisis, or recognition of the error made at the end of the play. In this play, it is clear that Creon's plight resembles these principles more than Antigone's condition, which is simply seen as the fated path of a martyr. Antigone's fortunes do not change because of a mistake made in ignorance, but because of her personality, which is more of a character flaw and is not considered hamartia by Aristotle. There is also no anagnorisis for Antigone, which is usually associated with the protagonist, and it is because of these reasons that Creon is more likely to be the protagonist than Antigone.

And no less damned is he who puts a friend

Although Creon is portrayed as evil throughout the majority of this play, all of his vices can be attributed to his hamartia. The nature of the protagonist warrants a certain amount of good in Creon, which is inherent in all tragic heroes. The righteous qualities of Creon can be observed before the hamartia, and during the anagnorisis of the play in which Sophocles employs emotive language to reveal the good in this play's tragic hero.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2424
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)